Truth or hypocrisy: take your pick

Even a nation as dynamic as the United States of America will lose its way as it moves farther away from the truth

From the BoJack Horseman, a Netflix TV series, comes this politically relevant musing: I would love to take down Hippopopalous and finally topple the acropolis of monstrous hypocrisy that ensconces us.

Having lived through various civilian governments and military dictatorships in Pakistan I can’t help but think not much has been left behind to morally brag about.

Neither the civilian nor the military governments have improved our ranking on the UNDP Human Development Index, the Transparency International index or the ICT readiness index in any meaningful way. Time and again, the state and its institutions have failed its ordinary citizens. The accumulation of political power has always taken precedence over actual performance and delivery by the successive governments.

For Pakistan, it has always been a case of one step forward and two steps backwards. Even Bangladesh appears to be whizzing past Pakistan in terms of economic growth. It is on a forward momentum in the area of socioeconomic indicators, even though this seemed highly unlikely in the 70s after its separation from Pakistan.

At the core of our problems is our inability and unwillingness to speak truth to power. Truth seems to have been the first casualty post-independence and immediately after the passing away of the Quaid-e-Azam. I wish the great Mr Jinnah had lived for at least another ten years to set Pakistan on the right track. India, however, was fortunate enough to have Nehru to see it through during its first few critical formative years.

How can a nation of such vast resources and immense human talent have latent potential? We have no one to blame but ourselves.

Even a nation as great and as dynamic as the United States of America will lose its way as it moves farther away from the truth. We are already seeing that happening in America to a certain extent. They would be wise to start listening to what the majority of their population want and not waste time squabbling over partisan politics and need to get rid of crony capitalism.

For Pakistan, to set its course on the right path, we need to foster and encourage truth. Pakistan continues to be a land of compromises and conspiracies, of contradictions and resilience and of the haves and have-nots.

It is extremely disappointing to see the recent discourse set by both the government and opposition and to add to it the entanglement of state institutions — which seemingly turned into one big circus for the media. The government, the opposition and all state institutions need to focus on actual delivery and performance for its people and get down to work. We have already lost several decades — even war ravished countries, like Vietnam, have moved on. Pakistan cannot afford to lose another decade. Look around from Palestine to Iraq and one would know the great price countries have to pay for bad governance and non-performance notwithstanding the geopolitical strategic reasons. History is a great teacher provided one wants to learn and there are lessons for all of us.

For almost 73 years now, we still have not figured out what is the right system of government — parliamentary, presidential, some hybrid form or a national consensus government. The system is so rigged that there is hardly any chance for good people to come forward in leadership roles in politics and a few that do get through are likely to be bogged down by compromises and conspiracies.

Strangely, some of us still seem to be in favour of military dictatorships. They may want to read up on basic political science theory as to why these dictatorships ultimately lead to dismal outcomes. If one closely looks at the case of Pakistan, these dictatorships always do well in the initial few years with a boost in foreign economic and military aid and somewhat better law and order situation. Once the dictator looks for legitimacy, it is all downhill from there.

For those who criticise the so-called establishment will do well to remember that the military is both a symbol of Pakistan’s solidarity as well as its division partially in some ways historically. Nevertheless, military as an institution is crucial to Pakistan’s integrity and solidarity. However, it does not mean that all state institutions should not be open to reform themselves including judiciary, bureaucracy, police and other government service providers. One can call them service providers and they need to deliver to the nation as a whole.

Rather than continuously debating the establishment’s role in politics and governance, maybe one needs to look at providing them a direct stake by re-energising the national security council so that it becomes a shared responsibility with proper accountability for all in it. This could include the government, opposition and military. Maybe it is time to consider a new social contract.

For the current government and the successive governments, they should be laser focused on economic growth and issues of governance, the provision of justice at all levels and equal economic opportunities as well as serious and sincere institutional reform of state institutions like judiciary, bureaucracy, police and other government services.

Amicable and timely resolution of the Kashmir issue could potentially reap huge peace dividends for Pakistan and the region. Peaceful Kashmir settlement is holding Pakistan back in more than one ways. Successful settlement of the Kashmir and Afghanistan issues will have a direct and significant impact on Pakistan’s economic prospects. Pakistan could do well to focus all its energies on (1) economic growth, (2) governance including essential reform of all state institutions and (3) successful and long-lasting resolution of Kashmir and Afghanistan and (4) reversing the prevalent trend of fundamentalism and bigotry in the society. In short, what is needed is a real and effective nation building.

Let us begin this journey by speaking the truth to ourselves and those around us. It is still not too late to change the course and start speaking the truth. Remember, no matter what our history is, we all have much to lose without Pakistan’s stability and prosperity.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2020.

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